Types

• Air gets into bicycle tires via a hand or foot pump that intakes air from the atmosphere outside a cylinder. Depressing the handle forces air through tubing and into the tire, by way of a plunger. More sophisticated pumps, such as mechanical air compressors, use centrifuges or pistons to quickly fill car and airplane tires.
  
  

Engineering Breakthrough

• Invented by Prussian engineer Otto von Guericke, the first air pump debuted in 1654, operating like a bicycle pump in reverse, withdrawing air instead of inflating it.
  
  

Bicycle Pumps

• John Dunlop made the first pneumatic (air-filled) bicycle tires in 1888, giving a smoother ride by replacing the all-rubber tire. The Lucas Reversa pneumatic bicycle pump came just two years later.
  
  

Cars and Airplanes

• Between 1895 and 1910, automobiles and airplanes had air-filled tires, with pumps that performed erratically and inefficiently. The Indianapolis Air Pump Company created an air pump in 1919 that inflated car tires with less effort and guesswork.
  
  

Recent Advancements

• By the late 20th century, pump options included 12-volt air compressors connected to car batteries. Tires on vehicles such as lawnmowers, golf carts and motorcycles inflate via steel canisters filled with carbon dioxide, which escapes from the cartridge at high speed, filling the tire.